William Milliken

William Milliken (26 March 1922-18 October 2019) was Governor of Michigan from 22 January 1969 to 1 January 1983, succeeding George W. Romney and preceding Jim Blanchard.

Biography
William Milliken was born in Traverse City, Michigan in 1922, the son of Mayor and State Senator James T. Milliken. He served as a B-24 waist gunner during World War II. He was appointed to the Michigan Waterways Commission in 1947 before being elected a State Senator in 1960, serving from 1961 to 1964. From 1965 to 1969, he went on to serve as Lieutenant Governor under George W. Romney, and he became Governor after Romney joined President Richard Nixon's cabinet. He was a moderate Rockefeller Republican, and he served as Governor for 14 years. He went on to endorse Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in 2004, supported Democrat Gary Peters in the 2014 US Senate race, signed a 2015 amicus brief in support of same-sex marriage, and endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election. He died in 2019 at the age of 97.